Quarter-Century Bucket List

One year, a quarter of a century ago, I was carved out of my mother’s stomach and began my turn at life’s adventure.

When I first learned what a bucket list was, I very much liked the idea. It’s like a to-do list for your life, but instead of the list being filled with menial tasks that you have to write down to make sure you do, it is filled with amazing experiences and adventures that you one day hope to conquer.

Morbid as it may be, I have been aware of the fact that any of us could die at any moment for some time now (that meteor is coming for us whether we know about it ahead of time or not), and although I don’t let thoughts like this stifle my everyday choices and risk taking, I do let it inspire my future adventures and decision-making.

So now, in honor of my successful survival of 9,139 days on this planet, I have written my (non-exhaustive/travel-esque) bucket list:

Hike the Te Araroa trail (the length of New Zealand) (bonus points for saving Middle Earth)

Walk as far as I can in one day along the Great Wall and camp out on top (bonus points for befriending a panda)

Eat an animal that I killed (bonus points if supervised by a rabbi)

Hike Aconcagua in Patagonia (bonus points for winter summit)

Visit Machu Pichu (bonus points for discovering new ruins)

Kayak in Alaska (bonus points if I make it to Mexico)

Spend a year traveling/working around Australia (bonus points for not being killed by something poisonous)

Hitchhike across the entire US (bonus points for each motorcycle sidecar)

Go paragliding or hang gliding (bonus points if done in a Superman costume)

Visit the Great Barrier Reef (bonus points for finding Atlantis)

Bungee jump (bonus points if done as a secret agent)

Fly around in a hot air balloon (bonus points for circumnavigating the Earth)

Dog sledding (bonus points if under the Northern Lights)

Sail a boat (bonus points if I circumnavigate the globe)

Go to Antarctica (bonus points for getting naked outside)

Attend a World Cup Final (bonus points for America)

Go to the Olympics (bonus points for competing)

Shake hands with a world leader (bonus points for a high-five)

Now, you may be thinking, “that list is quite unrealistic”, but that’s what bucket lists are supposed to be; you’re not supposed to be able to just go out and check everything off in the course of a week. This is a list for life. Because when you kick the bucket, you don’t want to make a mess for everyone to clean up after (get it!?).

More importantly, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone reading this.

Whether this is your first visit to Halfway Anywhere, or if you have been a reader since the Fryer Brazil days, knowing that there is at least one person out there deriving some sort of utility from this mess of words makes it worth all the effort (tear).

Leave a comment below to support the cause (aka make me feel like I have friends).

Related

I was recently reading about the Te Aurora Trail and it looks amazing! We’ll see…maybe it will be on my list too depending on how the JMT goes this summer. It will be the longest hike I’ve done and I really appreciate all of the tips and advice on your site.

hate to be that guy, but it’s Te Araroa not te aurora (I also have no clue how its pronounced). Anyway you know I’m in for Te Araroa 2015, I also found another bucket list item, the Sierra High Route, may do it in a month depending on snow levels.

a beret in France? Best way to make yourself recognize as a tourist! Your bucketliste fills more like up to 2 or 3 lifetimes……only its definitely missing Africa? A Must have! Spectacular Views & Wildlife (for potential (camera) hunting the BIG 5 ). As for your “work&travel in Australia” there is a special 1-year-visa (for the ones under age 30 – gotta get going dude)

Africa is one there – I will need to update. Perhaps I’m looking at something more like 4 or 5 lifetimes. And I have my eye on the Working Holiday visa – I’ve still got a few years to work something out.

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ABOUT ME

I’m Mac. I go places, eat food, do things, take pictures, and write words. If I have my way, then this journey is far from over; if I don’t, then it’s been fun. Find out more here!

ABOUT

Halfway Anywhere started out in 2011 as a way for me to share my travels with friends and family. Since then it has grown tremendously into a not only a collection of my own stories and travels, but as a resource for anyone looking to step into the world of adventure.

My mission is to provide and share information gathered from firsthand experience to make travel more accessible to everyone looking to escape those prohibitive zones of comfort.